TABITHA WAITED WITH nervous excitement that evening, wondering when John might arrive for courting. He’d stopped by earlier in the day to tell her that he was bringing Esther home from the hospital to stay with her, as both company and chaperone to keep tongues from wagging over any courting done. When Tabitha had protested that his mamm and daed needed Esther, John had explained that his fater would thankfully be home later that week and Esther was happy to come.
Now, a spatter of pebbles against the window behind the catch made her jump then laugh out loud. Tabitha rejoiced in John’s old-fashioned way of doing things and moved as quickly as she could on her crutches to open the door.
Esther entered first to give Tabitha a big but brief squeeze, and Tabitha understood that this was the way John’s prickly but kind-hearted younger sister was welcoming her into the family.
Esther carried an old black suitcase, and Tabitha gestured to the stairs. “It took me some doing with the crutches, but I’ve got my auld room fixed up for you. But please, Esther, stay up awhile with John and me if you’d like.”
Esther gave a lady-like snort. “When you’re courting? I should think not. Besides, I’m tired of sleeping in the hospital suite. A real bed will feel wunderbar.”
Tabitha watched her march off to the stairs, then turned to look up at John as he entered.
He smelled like spring and his light blue short-sleeved shirt showed the tanned muscles of his forearms from his work outdoors. She swallowed and gestured solemnly to the couch with the tip of one crutch. “Won’t you sit down, John?”
He smiled. “After you, sweetheart.”
She thrilled to the gentle endearment, then hobbled to the couch and collapsed, allowing her crutches to rest beside her. John sat down on her left, and she watched him work the brim of his straw hat through his lean fingers. She sensed his nervousness and felt the same way herself.
“I guess we’ve rather done things backward,” he said finally.
“What do you mean?”
“Well,” he half-laughed, “deciding to marry before courting properly and all that. You know our people use the courting time to get to know one another and decide if they’re—we’re—a gut fit.”
“And do you think we are?” she asked softly.
He turned to look at her in the pleasant light of the kerosene lamp. “Ya, and you?”
She smiled. “Ya, John. And now that we have such important matters in hand, we—well—we could discuss our wedding and make our plans.”
She watched him visibly relax as he scooped up Rough off the floor onto his lap. “All right, future Frau Miller, what would you talk about?”
“Ach, I forgot. I made us a snack. Would you go to the kitchen and bring in the plates from the table? We can eat here on our laps.”
“Surely.” John passed her the protesting puppy, then walked to the kitchen and back, balancing the plates she’d filled before his arrival.
“A snack?” he laughed, arranging everything just so. “I would say that it’s more a small feast.”
Tabitha laughed with him, nestling Rough against her side where he couldn’t get at her food. She was pleased with the savory biscuits, pimento cheese spread, pickled eggs and beets, as well as the chocolate mayonnaise cake she’d made, and it pleased her even more to watch John enjoying everything.
When they’d finished, he cleared things away then came back to the couch to gently take her hand in his. Her heart beat fast in her chest at his tender touch, and it was difficult to concentrate on what they were talking about.
“So what do you think?” John asked, and she stared at him blankly.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to repeat yourself.” She felt her cheeks heat up, but his dark blue eyes twinkled merrily at her as if he shared her secret about their hand holding.
“I said”—he leaned a bit closer—“that perhaps we should live here and add on to the haus as needed. You know Mamm and Daed are right down the street.”
She nodded, thinking. “But will your family mind? You know it’s common for the maedel to come and live with the man’s family. I might be able to help your mamm and Esther.”
John stroked his chin. “I think, with us so close by, that they will not mind. But we shall see . . .” He sighed aloud as if lost in thought suddenly, and her hand convulsed in his.
“Is—is something wrong, John?”
He looked at her, and she realized now how tired he was. “Not much wrong,” he soothed. “I did another favor for Rob today, and it was—difficult, to say the least.”
“Ach. . .” she murmured. “Do you want to talk about it?”
He seemed to consider for a long moment then finally nodded his head. “Ya, I do.”
She breathed a faint sigh of relief, glad that they would have no more secrets between them.
John looked down at the fine bones of Tabitha’s hand, resting so trustingly in his much bigger palm. He wasn’t sure how to even begin to talk about what went on at Ann Yoder’s. “I guess I’ll start at the beginning, though I fear it might pain you in some way.” He eyed Tabitha carefully.
“How so?”
“Well.” He paused then went on with determination. “When Rob returned, he told me that he’d come to love an English nurse—Katie—in Ohio.”
“And?”
“This doesn’t bother you?” he asked.
“Nee—it is no more than what I did—finding true love versus a mere feeling or the elation of falling in love.”
He smiled at her sensibleness. “All right. I’ll agree with you. But Rob asked me to help him tell his mamm about Katie and also to tell Ann that he plans on leaving the Amish.”
“Ach, poor Miss Ann! But she doesn’t have to worry that he’ll be shunned—he hasn’t joined the church yet.”
“Another gut point, but it’s his moving away to Ohio on a permanent basis that’s broken Ann’s heart. You know how protective she is of Rob, and he is her only son.”
“Ya, I know. Look, John, would it help at all if I went to see her with you? We’ve become quite gut friends, I think, and maybe I could help her in some way if Derr Herr allows.”
John squeezed her hand. “I think that’s a wunderbar idea, Tabitha. And, living so close, we can make sure, by all means, that she doesn’t feel too lonely without Rob.”
“She may, in time, even choose to move to Ohio,” Tabitha mused aloud.
“Perhaps, but her community is here.”
“I know, and that’s so important. When Onkel Fram first spoke to me of being a hired girl—ach, I was so angry and afraid that I’d have nowhere to go or that I might have to leave Paradise.”
John nudged close to her and bent his head to her ear. “Don’t ever be afraid of that, sweetheart. As Gott wills, I will always make our home a haven for you and our—well, sohns and dochders.”
He watched her touch his wrist in a squeeze of gratitude and knew a fullness in his heart as he prepared to welcome the days Derr Herr would lay out for them together.